Server: Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP2 and all hotfixes in native
mode Active Directory
Clients: Windows 2000 Pro SP2 and all post hotfixes

Background:
The server has a shared directory that has hundreds of thousands of
subfolders and documents contained within.  Users map to this share as
their z: drive.

I want users to be able to search through said mapping z: using the
"containing text" and use the built in index feature of W2K
Server/workstation.  I have tried enabling indexing on the server and
creating catalogs for that specific share.

However, in my experience, with the indexing service enabled, this
fails. Users get *no* results on a search, and I must disable the
service and delete the catalogs.  I have users who use the "containing
text" field on the search box where it will not report results if the
service is enabled and a catalog setup for that specific directory. I
must then disable the index service, and they run manual searches
across that share, taking up about an hour per simple word/query
search.

I've tried stopping the service, changing performance options,
re-creating the index properties from scratch, etc. Is this a setting
I should change on the client machines to index a network share? The
documentation on this is pretty generic and not getting into the nitty
gritty.

I've followed the KB articles here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q308202
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q317586
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnw2kmag00/html/Fingertips.asp

But none of that has helped.

Do you index the catalogue from server or from client?

I tried both.  When I attempt to add a directory the client fails with
error message "invalid directory name"  I am attempting to add the
drive mapping:
z:\
and the unc path:
\\server\share

On the server the catalog is created and shows the number of documents
indexed rising.  If I search locally on the server using the query
function it shows results, however remote clients do not seem to be
using that index, and show no results using the search feature.

I found the solution.  You must put in search queries in a specific
format to use the indexing service on the remote machine.  The trouble
was nailing down the specific operators required to perform a search.

For example, to search an index for a document containing the text
google.com you would put in the search box:

$contents google.com 

Thanks Google for the opportunity.

--indeego